like a heartbeat drives you mad
by Little Blue Owl
Summary: In the days before the final battle, with all of the Guardians of Light gathered together, Riku gets a moment of rest. Cross-posted on AO3.


AN: Title is from Fleetwood Mac's Dreams! It's a great song, even if it's not very much related to the fic itself.

It's an interesting little group they have at the Mysterious Tower. If it had been odd to have Mickey, Donald, Goofy, and ex-Organization member Axel (Lea? Riku never knew what to call him) with the three childhood friends, it got much weirder when they were joined by Aqua the Keyblade Master and Ventus, who lived in Sora's heart for 12 years. Yen Sid had his hands full.

It had been a full day of training outside, getting the team to work together as one unit. It was several long hours of back-and-forth sparring, magic training, and more long explanations of events past until all six Keyblade wielders were crashed in the grass, finishing plates of something Donald and Goofy made. Riku wasn't sure what it was and risky as it was with those two, he was a little too exhausted to care.

Kairi shifting next to Riku broke him out of his thoughts. "I'm really tired but at the same time, full of purpose. I'm glad I'm not just waiting on you two anymore."

Riku gave her a smile. Little as she was, Kairi was tough. If anyone deserved a Keyblade, it was her. "You did great," he said honestly. "You're keeping up with people with a lot more years in you, and your magic's even better than mine."

Kairi gave him one of her glowing smiles, and Riku felt the warmth of that spread through his whole body. Kairi was just like that. Sora turned to both of them from his seat on the stairs with a smile. "He's right, Kairi! You heal better than anyone, except maybe Aqua."

Kairi giggled. "Thanks, you two." She stretched out in the grass and sighed. "It's so nice here at the end of the day, isn't it?"

Aqua looked back at the three of them from her spot perched on a rock. "It's beautiful here. The breeze feels great after all the work we put in." Ven nodded next to her.

"I feel like we're back home."

Axel scoffed from his spot leaning on the tower. "All of you are crazy. All I want is to sleep for the next three days, not enjoy the breeze."

"Aw, come on, Axel, it's nice here! Don't pretend you don't like hanging out with us," Kairi said, shooting him her megawatt smile.

Axel tried to hide one of his own, turning towards the door. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going up."

Ven shot up immediately. "Oh, no you don't! The top bunk is mine!"

Axel stuck out his tongue. "Try reaching the room first with your short legs!"

The two of them dashed through the door, pushing and shoving each other as the others laughed. For a second, despite the craziness of the situation, Riku felt normal. Maybe even at home.

It'd been a long time since he'd felt like that.

Aqua stood up from her spot and walked over to collect everyone's dishes with a smile, patting Kairi on the shoulder. "Come on, you all. Lea was right about one thing- we all need some rest."

Two years ago, Riku would have started an argument with her for pushing them around, but now, Aqua's motherly presence was something comforting and warm. It was nice.

The three of them followed Aqua up the twisted stairs, splitting ways at the hall with their bedrooms attached. From the left Riku could hear Ven and Axel shrieking as feathers flew out of the door. It was hard to believe that was the same Axel he'd met before, from a lawless assassin to having pillow fights with a teenager over who got the top bunk.

Then again, Riku had changed a lot in that time, too.

"Goodnight, you two," Kairi said, pulling Sora and Riku into a half-hug each, specifically giving Riku's hand a squeeze and him a look he couldn't decipher, before throwing them a wave and taking the steps two at a time up to her and Aqua's shared room, already starting an animated discussion with the other girl.

Riku trudged up the steps slowly, Sora quietly chuckling behind him.

"You're pretty exhausted for a Keyblade Master."

"You try casting dark firaga forty times in one day and tell me how you feel."

Sora just chuckled again in response, nudging Riku's shoulder playfully as they crashed into their shared room. Sora immediately flopped down on his bed and sighed contentedly. "This feels soooo good."

Riku snorted, changing into pajama pants. "Weren't you just making fun of me for being tired?"

Sora just groaned in response, tossing a pillow at Riku's head and making him laugh.

"You gonna change, or just fall asleep in your clothes again?"

"You're so mean," Sora complained, standing up to change into pajamas, but they both knew it was half-hearted. The banter between them now has no bite, just gentle teasing as though somehow they weren't facing the end of the world in a few days.

Riku fell down on his own bed across from Sora's, laying facedown on top of the quilted comforter. That thing was stifling when you were used to the beach. As nice as it was, everything always felt a little too tight here. He repressed the urge to go somewhere with an ocean.

Thoughts of home were flooding him as he drifted off, startling when Sora turned off the lights, laughing in his direction. "Goodnight, Riku."

Riku turned sleepily to shoot Sora a tiny smile. "'Night, Sora."

It didn't take long for him to fully drift off.

—

Ever since traversing through the sleeping worlds, Riku would sometimes have dreams that felt hyper-realistic. Battles where he could feel the phantom pain of his wounds when he woke up. Walking out into the ocean and tasting the salty water in his mouth. It was the worst when he entered Sora's nightmares unconsciously.

Tonight was like that, but this was no nightmare of Sora's. Just a regular dream of his own.

Riku walked quietly over the top of the clock tower in Twilight Town, the echo of the bells ringing above him. Beyond that was another eternal sunset, casting oranges and reds and pinks over the empty streets and buildings. It must've been the middle of the night here.

But there was Sora, feet dangling over he edge of the building as he watched the sky filter through shades of crimson and gold.

To be in Twilight Town with Sora... it wasn't a bad dream.

Riku lowered himself onto the ledge, chin resting on his bent legs. He turned to dream-Sora.

"It must be the middle of the night, here."

Sora looked at him, eyes just as blindingly bright as they were in real life. Like the sun's rays bouncing off the waves.

"I've never seen it so empty. I can't tell if it's more peaceful or creepy."

Riku chuckled. "It was usually like this when I came. Everything was a lot quieter back when Organization XIII was doing operations here."

Sora hummed in response, craning his neck to look out over the entire town in the distance. There were little houses far off, big pine forests on the edge. Nothing like the Destiny Islands, but reminding Riku of them nevertheless.

"This place feels like home, somehow," Sora said. Like he read Riku's mind.

"A little."

"It's probably because of Roxas. He loved this place. I think... I think it was a close to a home as he ever had."

"It's not a terrible place to call home," Riku said, half a forlorn smile on his face. Roxas was just one of the many things he felt guilty about, that he feared he could never make up for.

"I love the islands, but this is nice, too. Quiet. In a different way." Sora took a deep breath, in, then out. "It doesn't smell like the ocean, though."

"I miss home." It was an unexpected sentiment, but as soon as Riku said it, he knew it to be true. For all the time he yearned to get away from his birthplace, he missed the Destiny Islands. Missed the rowboats and the play island and the three of them sitting on the paopu tree together.

When he looked up, Sora was smiling at him. "It hasn't been that long," he said. "We were there for a few months after everything went down with Xemnas. Besides, we'll be back as soon as all of this is over."

Even in Riku's dreams, only Sora could say something simple like that and make it sound profound. Like a deeply important promise.

"You're right. Once all of this is over," Riku echoed.

The two boys sat in silence for a long time after that. At one time, the never-ending twilight here had set Riku's nerves on edge. The lack of passage of time reminded him too much of the darkness, and the endless night within it. Now it felt comforting, a constant in his ever-changing universe.

Not a terrible place to call home. Especially when Sora was here with him.

"Hey, Riku," the other boy suddenly said, standing up and stretching his legs. "There's something I wanna show you."

Riku looked up, surprised. "Alright," he said, getting to his feet. "Where to?"

"For now, just downstairs," Sora said cheerfully. "We can take the train over."

So the two of them made their way down the back stairs, taking the stone steps lazily. There was no rush here, no need for a Keyblade, no wild errands to run. When they reached the bottom of the steps, though, Sora took off running towards the glass doors to the station. Typical.

"Come on, Riku!" Sora shouted as he ran inside. And Riku dutifully followed.

The station, like everything else here in his dream, was deserted except for the two of them. Sora swung up onto the platform of an orange train holding open the door for Riku to catch up. "It's this one," it said, and they came onto the train, sitting down in plush seats as it started off in the distance.

Vaguely in the back of his mind Riku wondered how the train was running in the deserted town, most likely in the middle of the night, but it didn't matter much. It was all a dream, anyway.

The entire ride Sora's eyes were glued out the windows, watching the sun going off a river below them as they passed above the pine forests they saw from a distance. The winding track, Riku had to admit, had a beautiful view. It felt like it was going nowhere in particular.

The view outside was beautiful, but there was an even better one next to him. It was an embarrassing thought. Even in dreams he felt self-conscious about it, the way he felt warm all over when Sora smiled brightly, or the way his shining blue eyes caught Riku off-guard, or the way Riku admired the just-visible freckles that dotted Sora's nose and cheeks above his tanned skin. To sit in his presence felt like a gift enough.

Riku had apparently been staring too long, he realized, when the train started to slow as a station approached. Riku shook himself out of his reverie and touched Sora's arm to alert him. "We're here, I think."

Sora looked out to the sign in the platform and squinted to make out the words, nodding. "Yeah, we're here." He took Riku's hand and stood up, exiting the train. "Come on, Riku!"

Riku felt his cheeks go just a little pink, but didn't argue. He let Sora's fingers lock with his, and they descended into another part of the city.

Riku had spent time in Twilight Town back when he was posing as an Organization member. The memories were fuzzy, for what reason he didn't know. Maybe it was the effect of fighting off Ansem's darkness that whole time. But whatever the cause, he'd been there. Generally in the town proper, or the tunnels. Keeping tabs on recon they did and enemies they killed. Watching Roxas.

This part of town, though, was mostly new. It was less metropolitan than the downtown, with all its shops and apartments. Here, white brick buildings overlooked another thick forest, the thin streets dotted with shrubs and flowers that looked loving taken care of. In the distance, Riku could see a little waterfall.

"It's beautiful," he said, and Sora turned to give him a bright smile, letting go of Riku's hand. Riku suddenly acutely missed the warmth.

"Isn't it? The tunnels from the main part of town come out over there," he said, gesturing a little up the tall hill. Riku nodded. He seemed to remember something like that from a brief visit. Most of his traveling had been done by dark portal, back then. "Anyway, what I wanna show you is up the hill. Follow me!"

It wasn't a hard path to follow, the trolley still absently running back and forth up its track along the way, but Riku didn't complain about Sora "leading." If anything, it was kind of nice to let someone else be in charge.

Their footsteps echoed smoothly on the cobblestones, and when they passed by the waterfall the colors of the sunset filtered through the water, casting colored shadows like stained glass. Even the air smelled slightly of flowers as a cool wind blew across them.

"Up the hill, right?" Riku asked, turning towards it. Sora nodded, and the pair followed the dirt path up to a fenced off clearing.

"Here," Sora said, sitting down in the soft grass atop the hill. "It's the best spot in town to watch the sunset."

And he was right. From here, you could see the entire city in the distance below. The sun bounced off lightly-colored stone buildings and filtered through the clouds and trees. It was almost heavenly.

"Wow," Riku said quietly, without thinking. Sora giggled (such a cute sound) and patted the stop next to him. Riku obliged, sitting down with just a few inches between their hands. He fiddled absently with the grass in his fingers. "I was here once before, but... I didn't really pay attention. I had a job to do."

Sora watched him. "As Ansem?"

"Yeah." Riku let it sink in a little bit, shelving down the doubt that crept up his throat whenever he thought about what he'd done as Ansem. "It's nicer like this. As me."

"I went up here once, too," Sora said. "Me and Donald and Goofy were exploring here with some other kids."

He suddenly looked down at his feet, a blush tinging his cheeks as he met Riku's eyes again. "Walking up here, one of the locals told me the view was even better with someone you love." He laughed nervously. "It's funny. All I could think about was coming up here with you."

Oh.

Oh.

"With me," Riku repeated softly. But it was a dream, right? His dream. He shouldn't be that surprised.

"I wanted to share it with you. I wish I could've come here with you as soon as we found each other, but... things to do, you know?"

Riku tentatively laid his fingers over Sora's in the grass. He was damned either way. Sora held Riku's heart in his hands. What did it matter if he gave into the dreams a little bit?

And dream-Sora looked up at him with his beautiful ocean eyes and he felt their hands twine together, softer this time. More intimate. Riku felt a magnetism from him, was being pulled in by something he couldn't resist.

Not that he really wanted to.

He wasn't sure who moved. Maybe both of them. It didn't matter.

Riku's eyes had fluttered closed and his other hand crept up to Sora's cheek, feeling Sora's free hand cradle the back of his neck.

And they were kissing.

It was a dream, literally, but it felt like a gift. Like magic. To feel his best friend there, beside him, fingers interlocked. It wasn't real but Sora's lips were soft, the hand on his neck was warm in the cool night wind, and he felt love course through his entire body.

It wasn't real, but it felt real. Achingly real. Beautifully real. Heartbreakingly real.

Riku drew back slowly, half-opening his eyes but still reluctant to remove his hand from Sora's cheek. He didn't want to end it but it wasn't fair to himself or Sora. He couldn't let himself get caught up in this fantasy. It may have felt real, but it wasn't.

And in his dream, Sora looked at him sadly, like somehow he knew that. He didn't know how. Sora was always intuitive about feelings, though.

Riku sighed, and opened his eyes fully. Time to wake up.

And he did with a startle. A little light was filtering through the window, and he felt something warm and heavy next to him, a chest moving steadily up and down with Riku's arms wrapped around him, head full of messy brown hair buried in his chest.

Oh.

Oh.

Three simultaneous realizations hit Riku like the train he'd just been on, making him panic but knowing if he moved he'd wake Sora up and that would make it worse.

One: He was Sora's dream eater, and what he'd just done was dive into Sora's dream unknowingly.

Two: He had, somehow, moved entirely into Sora's bed in the middle of the night and they had somehow tangled themselves together to cuddle.

Three: Dream-Sora was real Sora. Sora had dreamt of that kiss, and probably thought real Riku was dream-Riku.

There was no way to fit these realizations together. No reasonable course of action for what to do next. Sora had dreamt of kissing Riku. Riku was only too happy to comply. What did that mean?

He didn't have long to wonder, as Sora stirred in his arms and his eyes half-fluttered open, locking onto Riku's face sleepily. "Good morning, Riku," he said, and Riku just about died.

"Sora," he said, not knowing how to continue.

"What is it?" Sora asked, still only half-awake.

"Sora," Riku intoned more urgently, and he watched Sora's eyes suddenly widen as he, too, realized the situation they were in.

"Oh," Sora said intelligently, removing his arms from Riku's waist and sitting up. "Oh no. That was my dream. You were in my dream. Literally."

Riku just sat half-up, gaping like a fish as he tried to come up with something, anything, to say. What came out was probably the worst thing possible.

"I thought it was my own dream."

Sora looked up at him and he could see the realization in his eyes. "Oh." This time it sounded different. A little awed. Oh god, what had Riku done?

"It was a good dream," Sora said hastily, probably without thinking, and Riku's entire face flushed red before Sora's followed.

He tried to stand up from Sora's bed. "I'm- I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm just going to-"

"Wait," Sora said quietly, hand grabbing Riku's, small calloused fingers locking with his own. "Stay here. Please."

Riku felt more embarrassed than he had in possibly his entire life, but instead of saying anything he just nodded, crawling back into Sora's bed and letting his best friend wrap his arms around him protectively. Sora buried his face in his shoulder, and Riku felt his heart race.

"There's no nightmares with you around. Just... good dreams."

"Good dreams," Riku repeated, arms slowly coming up to cradle Sora and resting his face in Sora's hair. It was so soft, he thought. So warm.

The next thing he knew was a knocking sound on the door. Riku slowly became aware of his hands grabbing into Sora's shirt, his freckled face inches away from Riku's own. The knocking came again, and Riku looked up half-awake as Aqua poked her head in.

At first she looked at Riku's empty bed, then moved her eyes over to Sora's, seeing the two tangled together, Sora still asleep and Riku half-awake.

Her cheeks went a little pink, but her eyes were fond. "Sorry to wake you, Riku, but it's time for breakfast. Training starts soon."

Riku nodded, unsure how to respond. Was he supposed to explain this? "Okay."

"And, um..." Aqua started, "please make sure Sora comes down, too."

Riku nodded again, and Aqua gave him a little smile (pitying? proud? he wasn't sure) before closing the door behind her. The noise made Sora's eyes open wide.

"Huh?" he said, blinking and looking at the door. It was so ridiculously cute.

"Morning, Sora," Riku said, and Sora looked back at the boy in front of him and smiled sleepily, rubbing his eyes and stretching as Riku stood up.

"Morning, Riku. Sleep well?" Sora asked coyly, and how did he manage to be this sassy this early in the morning?

"Good dreams," he replied. "Maybe they'll come true."

And the little embarrassed grin Sora gave him, eyes crinkling and freckled cheeks red, made the idea of another full day of training a lot more tolerable.

But god, was Kairi going to tease them about this.

AN: Dedicated to my big sister, who inspired me to play this whole series for the first time a couple months ago and was along for the whole ride. I wrote this the day I finished KH3, because I am unsurprisingly soriku garbage (so is she).

I have more soriku fluff in my drafts, so let me know what you thought! I hope you enjoyed it!


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